Boy, 13, burned at unstaffed tanning salon

A mother has called for changes to the law after her 13-year-old son was severely burned using a sunbed three times in one day at an unstaffed salon.

Kieron Saunders suffered serious facial blisters when he spent a total of 21 minutes in a stand-up tanning booth while the south Wales salon was unstaffed. He is recovering at home after his burns became infected and he started vomiting. The maximum tanning time at the Sun Kissed salon in Tredegar is six minutes and children under 16 are not allowed, but the shop is manned only 75% of the time.

Kieron's mother, Maria, said she fears her son will develop cancer when he is older and called for rules to stop unaccompanied children using sunbeds. The 40-year-old nursing home carer said: "His lips swelled up and he looked like Baloo the bear from the Jungle Book. The salon should be manned at all times. I was absolutely livid because the damage is already done to my son. If I could save one child from going through the agony Kieron has gone through I will be happy."

Salon owner Steven James said Kieron had been removed from the shop several times. "I'm really disappointed this has happened. We are not operating illegally. If laws were passed to make all salons staffed all the time it would solve the problem."